Located in downtown Vancouver, Alexander Academy is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School offering the Diploma Programme and the BC Dogwood Diploma. All students participate in a culturally rich and an academically challenging university preparatory program from Grades 8-12, utilizing a variety of traditional and non-traditional approaches such as personalized learning, relevant out-of-classroom experiences, and the opportunity to earn advanced university transfer credits.

IB World School

BC Transfer Credits

English Language Development

BC Dogwood

Concurrent Studies Program with Alexander College

Centrally Located in the heart of Downtown Vancouver

Individualized Student Sucess Program

Robust Extra-Curricular Program

Our Take: Alexander Academy

In many ways, Alexander is very much an expression of its context, namely the cultural and social life of Vancouver. The approach is international, drawing students from a range of cultural backgrounds, though also teaching with an eye to global communication and issues. The school is very forward looking, adapting programs to address 21st century literacies, and providing support for individual student success, including flexible scheduling. Academics are front and centre, just as they should be, but there is an attention to student life within the walls of the school and beyond. The location is proximate to a range of resources, including galleries and museums, arts venues, and transportation. The ideal student is one preparing for university studies.

Looking for an exceptional high school for your teen where they will flourish and succeed?

Alexander Academy welcomes you to its spring Open House being held on Wednesday, November 13th! We have two sessions to choose from - 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm- 6:00 pm. This is a great opportunity for you to get more in-depth information about the school, as well as a chance to tour our campus and meet students, faculty and our administration team.

Parents looking at private school options have the chance to see our exceptional urban high school in action! Visit our website to RSVP. We look forward to seeing you and your family!

Looking for an exceptional high school for your teen where they will flourish and succeed?

Alexander Academy welcomes you to its spring Open House being held on Thursday, February 20th! We have two sessions to choose from - 9:30 am - 11:30 am and 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm. This is a great opportunity for you to get more in-depth information about the school, as well as a chance to tour our campus and meet students, faculty and our administration team.

Parents looking at private school options have the chance to see our exceptional urban high school in action! Visit our website to RSVP. We look forward to seeing you and your family!

Central to your child's school experience is the underlying curriculum taught in the classroom. "Curriculum" refers to both what is taught and how it's taught. When considering the different curricula outlined in the next few pages, keep in mind that few schools fall neatly into one category or another. Most schools' curricula comprise a blend of best practices drawn from multiple curriculum types. Having said that, most schools do have a general overall curriculum type. These are identified for each school on OurKids.net.

Progressive (sometimes called "in- quiry-based") curricula attempt to place children's interests and ideas at the heart of the learning experience. Instead of lessons being driven by predetermined pathways, progressive curricula are often "emergent", with learning activities shaped by students' questions about the world. Instead of starting with academic concepts and then tying it to everyday experience, progressive methods begin with everyday experience and work back to an academic lesson. Teachers provide materials, experiences, tools and resources to help students investigate a topic or issue. Students are encouraged to explore, reflect on their findings, and discuss answers or solutions.

Alexander Academy has a International Baccalaureate approach to secondary curriculum.

Some private schools offer International Baccalaureate (IB) programming. The "Diploma Programme" is offered to students in the final two years of high school, while the "Primary Years Programme" (ages 3 to 12) and "Middle Years Programme" (ages 11 to 16) serve as preparation for the diploma program.

What Alexander Academy says: Alexander Academy is authorized as an IB World School offering the Diploma Programme.
Alexander Academy is dedicated to providing educational programs that inspire students to follow independent paths to success. We recognize that each student has their own academic goals, learning style, passion, and talent. Our teachers are committed to ensuring that each student has the opportunity to challenge themselves academically, enabling them to reach their personal level of academic excellence.
Out-of-Classroom Learning
Alexander Academy recognizes that students thrive in an environment that has relevance and context to their learning. Through authentic, out-of-classroom learning experiences, students are inspired and obtain in-depth knowledge of the curricular subjects they are studying through active and engaged learning, inquiry, real-world exploration, and challenges.

Traditional Math typically teaches a method or algorithm FIRST, and THEN teaches the applications for the method. Traditional algorithms are emphasized and practiced regularly: repetition and drills are frequently used to ensure foundational mastery in the underlying mathematical procedures. The traditional approach to math views math education as akin to building a logical edifice: each brick depends on the support of the previously laid ones, which represent mastery over a particular procedure or method. Traditional Math begins by giving students a tool, and then challenges students to practice using that tool an applied way, with progressively challenging problems. In this sense Traditional Math aims to establish procedural understanding before conceptual and applied understanding.

A major effort is made to integrate the development of digital literacy throughout the curriculum and in everything students do. Digital literacy is understood to be a fundamental skill in the 21st century: it therefore follows, the idea goes, that teachers should find ways to connect every lesson back to technology. Effort is made to ensure the use of technology is meaningful and advances students’ skills beyond what they would otherwise be from using computers outside the classroom.

Broadly-speaking, the main curriculum -- like that of most schools -- paces the provincially-outlined one. This pace is steady and set by the teachers and school. The curriculum might still be enriched in various ways: covering topics more in-depth and with more vigor than the provincial one, or covering a broader selection of topics.

Through the collective mindset of teachers, administrators, students, and parents, each school develops and maintains its own academic culture. This generally relates to the norms and expectations created around academic performance. Many parents look to private schools because they want a specific type of culture. Some want a rigorous environment that will elevate their child to new heights. Others want a nurturing environment that will help their child develop a passion for learning.

A school with a “rigorous” academic culture places a high value on academic performance, and expects their students to do the same. This does not mean the school is uncaring, unsupportive, or non-responsive -- far from it. A school can have a rigorous academic culture and still provide excellent individual support. It does mean, however, the school places a particular emphasis on performance -- seeking the best students and challenging them to the fullest extent -- relative to a normal baseline. High expectations and standards – and a challenging yet rewarding curriculum – are the common themes here. Keep in mind this classification is more relevant for the older grades: few Kindergarten classrooms, for example, would be called “rigorous”.

Academic Culture at schools on OurKids.net

&nbsp Rigorous - 46% &nbsp Supportive - 54%

What Alexander Academy says: This information is not currently available.

Schools have specific goals regarding how they want their educate and develop their students. This is part of a school's overall philosophy or vision, which is contained in its mission statement. While they tend have several developmental aims, schools tend to priortize certain aims, such as intellectual, social, spiritual, emotional, or physical development.

Primary Developmental Priority: Balanced

"Equal emphasis is placed on a balance of priorities: intellectual, emotional, social and physical cultivation."

Secondary Developmental Priority: Intellectual

The goal is to cultivate "academically strong, creative and critical thinkers, capable of exercising rationality, apprehending truth, and making aesthetic distinctions."

What Alexander Academy says: This information is not currently available.

Schools offer a wide range of approaches and services to support students with special needs. This may include individualized learning, one-on-one support, small classes, resource rooms, and learning aids. These supports may be provided in a number of different environments such as a dedicated special needs school or class, an integrated class, a withdrawal class, or a regular class with resource support or in-class adaptations.

Alexander Academy offers No support

Alexander Academy offers no/limited support for students with learning difficulties or special needs.

Academic Support:

Subject Type

offered

Learning strategy and study counselling; habit formation

Extra support and minor accommodations for children experiencing subclinical difficulties

This is a learning disability that can limit a child's ability to read and learn. It can have a variety of traits. A few of the main ones are impaired phonological awareness and decoding, problems with orthographic coding, and auditory short-term memory impairment.

Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

This is a sound differentiation disorder involving problems with reading, comprehension, and language.

Dyscalculia

This is a kind of specific learning disability in math. Kids with this math disorder have problems with calculation. They may also have problems with math-related concepts such as time and money.

Dysgraphia

This is a kind of specific learning disability in writing. It involves problems with handwriting, spelling, and organizing ideas.

Language Processing Disorder

This is characterized by having extreme difficulty understanding what is heard and expressing what one wants to say. These disorders affect the area of the brain that controls language processing.

Nonverbal Learning Disorders (NLD)

These involve difficulties interpreting non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language. They're usually characterized by a significant discrepancy between higher verbal skills and weaker motor, visual-spatial, and social skills.

Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit

A characteristic seen in people with learning disabilities such as Dysgraphia or Non-verbal LD. It can result in missing subtle differences in shapes or printed letters, losing place frequently, struggles with cutting, holding pencil too tightly, or poor eye/hand coordination.

Refers to a range of conditions that involve challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, and speech and nonverbal communication. They also involve unique strengths and differences. For instance, there are persons with both low- and high-functioning autism (some claim the latter is identical to Asperger's syndrome).

Asperger's Syndrome

On the autism spectrum, Asperger's is considered quite mild in terms of symptoms. While traits can vary widely, many kids with Asperger's struggle with social skills. They also sometimes fixate on certain subjects and engage in repetitive behaviour.

Down syndrome

his is associated with impairment of cognitive ability and physical growth, and a particular set of facial characteristics.

Intellectual disability

This is a condition characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning (e.g., reasoning, learning, and problem solving). Intellectual disabilities are also known as general learning disabilities (and used to be referred to as a kind of mental retardation).

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term used to describe the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother consumed alcohol during pregnancy. These may include growth deficits, facial anomalies, and damage to the central nervous system, which can lead to cognitive, behavioural, and other problems.

roubled teens tend to have problems that are intense, persistent, and can lead to quite unpredictable behaviour. This can lead to behavioural and emotional issues, such as drug and alcohol abuse, criminal behaviour, eating disorders, depression, and anxiety.

Clinical Depression

This is a mental health disorder also called "major depression." It involves persistent feelings of sadness, loss, and anger. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms are usually severe enough to cause noticeable problems in relationships with others or in daily activities, such as school, work, or one's social life.

Clinical anxiety

This is a mood disorder involving intense, relentless feelings of distress and fear. They can also have excessive and persistent worry about everyday situations, and repeated episodes of intense anxiety or terror.

Suicidal thoughts

This involves persistent thoughts about ending one's life.

Drug and alcohol abuse

This involves the excessive use of drug and/or alcohol, which interferes with daily functioning.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)

This is a disruptive behavioural disorder which normally involves angry outbursts, often directed at people of authority. This behaviour must last continuously for six months or more and significantly interfere with daily functioning.

This is a condition of the central nervous system. It affects the brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord. Symptoms can include fatigue, loss of motor control, memory loss, depression, and cognitive difficulties.

Cerebral palsy

his refers to a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood. CP is caused by abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture.

Muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy is a neuromuscular disorder which weakens the body's muscles. Causes, symptoms, age of onset, and prognosis vary between individuals.

Spina Bifida

This is a condition present at birth due to the incomplete formation of the spine and spinal cord. It can lead to a number of physical challenges, including paralysis or weakness in the legs, bowel and bladder incontinence, hydrocephalus (too much fluid in the brain), and deformities of the spine.

Dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder)

This is a Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Also known as "sensory integration disorder," it affects fine and/or gross motor coordination in children and adults. It may also affect speech.

Blindness

Visual impairment is a decreased ability or inability to see that can't be fixed in usual ways, such as with glasses. Some people are completely blind, while others have what's called "legal blindness."

Deafness

Hearing impairment, also known as "hearing loss," is a partial or total inability to hear. The degree of hearing impairment varies between people. It can range from complete hearing loss (or deafness) to partial hearing loss (meaning the ears can pick up some sounds).

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is an inherited genetic condition, which affects the body's respiratory, digestive, and reproductive systems. It affects young children and adults.

Schools support students with gifted or advanced learning abilities in a several ways. Whether they offer a full-time gifted program or part-time support, they normally provide some form of accelerated learning (delivering content at a faster pace) or enrichment (covering content more broadly or deeply). Many schools also offer a wide range of in-class adaptations to support advanced learners, such as guided independent studies, project-based learning, and career exploration.

While all schools measure individual progress and achievement in students, they have different ways of doing this. For instance, many traditional schools gauge progress through report cards, which give students lettered or numbered grades. Other schools, meanwhile, measure progress in other ways, either in addition to or instead of giving grades. For instance, they may offer prose-based feedback (i.e, comments), academic achievement reporting, habits and behaviour reporting, and parent-teacher meetings. In choosing the right school for your child, take a close look at its policy for measuring the individual progress of students.

While academics remain the priority for most private schools, many also place a strong focus on a well-rounded education and encourage participation in extracurricular activities such as sports, music, arts, or clubs. Involvement in extracurriculars helps stimulate students in their studies, makes them more motivated to learn, and can make school more enjoyable and fulfilling. Extracurricular activities can also provide students with a much-needed break from the stresses of academics, while helping them to develop skills and allowing them to take part in valuable social situations.

This can depend on a number of factors, including the type of school, living arrangements, what’s included in tuition, school location, resources, and facilities. Many private schools in Canada have tuition that ranges between $6,000 and $12,000 a year. While some schools, such as schools which provide room and board, can be more expensive, many of these schools provide ways to defray the costs of tuition. For instance, they may offer merit-based scholarships or needs-based financial aid (often referred to as “bursaries” or “subsidies”).

Need-based financial aid

Merit based Scholarships

Private schools come in all shapes and sizes. Some larger schools have enrollment numbers in the thousands, while some smaller schools have only a few dozen students. Boarding schools tend to be on the larger side, while alternative schools, such as Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and Waldorf, are normally smaller. Besides the overall size of school, there are other important facts you’ll want to know about a school’s enrollment. For instance, here you can learn about a school’s enrollment for separate streams (if they have them), such as day and boarding, its average class size, and its average enrollment per grade.

Private schools in Canada have admissions policies. All schools have some required application materials, though these vary between schools. These may include letters of application, application fees, essays, and exams (such as the SSAT). Many schools also require interviews with prospective students, either with their parents, on their own, or both. Schools also have different standards and priorities when evaluating student applications, different acceptance rates (which may vary between grade levels), and target different kinds of students. To improve your child’s chances of acceptance, you should find out everything you can about a school’s admissions policies and how they assess applicants.

Application

Admissions Assessments:

Assessment

Required

Grades

Interview

8 - 12

SSAT

SSAT (out of province)

Entrance Exam(s)

Entrance Essay

Application Fee

Application Deadlines:

Day students: Rolling

Homestay students: Rolling

What Alexander Academy says:

Applicants are required to submit the completed application, supporting documents and fees, and an attend an admissions interview either via Skype or in person.

Acceptance

Acceptance Rate: 100%

Type of student Alexander Academy is looking for:
We seek to identify students who will be the best educators of one another and their teachers—individuals who will inspire those around them during their high school years and beyond.

Where graduates of a school do their post-secondary studies can be an important factor in choosing a private school. Do you want your child to go to a Canadian university, an Ivy league school in the US, or some other institute? Regardless of your inclinations, take a look at a school’s university placement record, and the services they offer to support university applications and decisions.

Services

Offered

Career planning

Internships

Mentorship Program

University counseling

Key Numbers

Average graduating class size

30

*Canadian "Big 6" placements

N/A

**Ivy+ placements

1

*Number of students in the past year who attended one of McGill, U of T, UBC, Queen's University, University of Alberta, or Dalhousie University.

**Number of students in the past 5 years that that attended one of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, University of Chicago, Oxford or Cambridge (UK)

"Being a student at Alexander Academy is such an awesome experience. I love how everyone is so close to each other and the teachers go out of their way to make learning fun and really get to know you. I want to be a marine biologist when I graduate, and work in Australia. The fact that the school has a University Transfer Program is cool as the teachers will help me achieve my goals faster."

“We were looking for a school that was more involved with our son's needs. Our son was in a school with over 3000 students and you could tell when you walked into the front door that he was just a number. Our son is a high achiever academically, but also athletically. We needed to find a school that would nurture his strengths, challenge his weaknesses, and encourage him to achieve the next level academically. We also needed a school that would accommodate our son's athletic program. Not only does Alexander Academy expect success at academic studies, they have an understanding for the needs of our son in his athletic program. They make adjustments to his schedule at school to accommodate his demanding training program. When you walk in the front door of Alexander Academy, you know the staff is interested in your children. It is an energetic, upbeat, student centered learning environment.

Welcome to Alexander Academy. We are delighted that you have found us and invite you to get to know us better. As you will see, at Alexander Academy, our lively classrooms celebrate the joy of learning and foster the quest for excellence and exploration. The first thing you will notice when you arrive at Alexander Academy is that the excitement is tangible: you will feel the energy and sense the vibrancy as soon as you enter our school. You will grasp the wonder of discovery in the classrooms as each student and faculty member engage in authentic critical thinking and learning. Our small classes provide the opportunity to challenge students to express themselves in an environment where teachers are a vital part of each student’s daily experience. Our personalized community also helps to build lifelong friendships among students and faculty.

We are a professional learning community following a holistic approach to education. We educate the whole person: academically, artistically, physically and socially as we put the student and their strengths and interests first. No two students or journeys are alike and we will go out of our way to find and nurture each student’ unique abilities. To help students on their path, we craft a unique program designed for each student. Ultimately, it is our goal is to shape 21st century leaders who have the courage to take intellectual risks as they work effectively with others. Our aim is that every student should leave Alexander Academy happy, fulfilled and prepared for the next stage of their life.

In navigating through the pages of this website, I hope that you will get a real sense of the richness and diversity of life at Alexander Academy. Above all else, I hope that you will gain a strong impression that, at Alexander Academy, the interest of our students comes first.

Please do come and visit Alexander Academy. You will be warmly welcome.